Watch: STEM workshop breaks stereotypes, inspires girls to pursue male-dominated fields

Oct 22, 2019 | 3:26 PM

When Elizabeth Brown walked into her new job as a mechanical engineer nearly 15 years ago she was shocked to find no other females working alongside her.

“I started asking myself why that was, why aren’t there more female engineers? Why aren’t more women choosing this career path?” she said.

Those questions led her to realize the role stereotypes play in directing women to pursue certain careers over those in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Feeling dismayed Brown changed her trajectory and started teaching at W.L. Seaton Secondary to encourage more young women to pursue careers in STEM.

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Brown was one of 16 local women sharing her story to approximately 100 Grade 6 and 7 students at the STEM Workshop Day for Girls at Coldstream Elementary.

The workshop was sponsored by IBM Canada with the goal of closing the gender imbalance that exists with many STEM careers.

“Girls are encouraged at a young age to play with dolls and not do robotics and do Lego. Boys are told that they are good at those things and that engineering is for boys and girls don’t belong doing that. So we have to work on those stereotypes and those biases,” Krista Shibata of IBM Canada said.

Students engaged in speed mentoring sessions with 16 different women working in STEM industries. Participants learned about careers in cyber security, artificial intelligence and the internet.

“It’s really cool to see that we have lots of jobs now, because it used to be that everybody thought that girls only did housekeeping or design dresses or something or sewing. But actually they can do whatever the boys can do,” Grade 6 student Mena Nadeau said.

The event in Coldstream is one of three stops for IBM Canada in the Okanagan Valley with workshops also being held in Kamloops and Kelowna.

by Tiffany Goodwein

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